The present invention relates to the field of water sports, and, more particularly, to a mirror arrangement that provides an unobstructed view of a water skier being towed behind a speedboat.
One of the popular water sports is water skiing. In that sport, a person wearing water skis and holding onto a tow rope is towed behind a speeding ski boat. The driver of the ski boat needs to have a constant view of the skier and, at the same time, needs to be able to keep his eyes on water traffic ahead. For one thing, the driver needs to know if the skier is in trouble for safety reasons. The driver also needs to critique the performance of the skier so that the skier can improve his technique. In competition, the driver helps the skier perform. For example, in the slalom, the driver must steer a course between buoys while at the same time helping the skier to negotiate the slalom course. Thus, mirrors have become one of the most important accessories for ski boats.
Typically, a stock ski boat comes equipped with a mirror having a length and width of about eight by five inches. The stock mirror is conventionally mounted to the deck or cowl forward of and to one side of the driver. The mirror is typically no higher than the instruments mounted in the instrument panel.
The stock mirror arrangement is suitable for most purposes. But when there is a passenger in the boat, the driver's view of a skier being towed behind the boat is frequently obscured. In an attempt to solve this problem, accessory mirrors are made available that fasten to the windshield post and extend out to one side of the windshield, either to port or starboard, or that mount to the top of the windshield and extend down toward the driver of the boat. These accessory mirrors are an improvement over stock mirrors but do not completely solve the problem of providing an unobstructed view of the skier behind the boat when passengers are aboard.
At least one water sport enthusiast mounted a 36 inch long mirror designed for cars and trucks to his boat. See the photograph on page 42 of "Watersport Illustrated 1990". The mirror is sold as the Wink Safety Mirror by the Wink Corporation, 5631 208th St. S.W., Lynnwood, Wash. 98036. However, the mirror is bolted to the top of the windshield frame using the stock hardware supplied with the mirror. Consequently, the mirror is located down into the cockpit where the view is subject to being blocked by the heads of passengers.
Accordingly, there has been a need for a boat mirror that provides a panoramic view unobstructed by passengers in the boat. A boat mirror satisfying those requirements should also be adaptable to various windshield shapes and should pivot up and down, depending upon whether it is stowed, or in use. It is also an objective that the mirror be made with a flat surface that produces no distortion of the image.